The Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) Discussion Thread

[Cj1990]

For the longest time i dreamed of going to 3 parks:Cedar Point,Great Adventure(mostly for KK and El Toro),and of course Magic Mountain. I finally when to Cedar Point for the first time this summer! Was a blast! I know Cedar Point is Cedar Fair's flag ship amusement park and MM is SF's flagship park and has tons of coasters. I guess you can say MM is the "Cedar Point" of Six Flags parks. But yea id like to go here one day. Both Cedar Fair and Six Flags chains are known to have the best coasters so it would be cool to be at two of the best thrill ride parks in the country maybe even world! That being said which of the two has the most "omg that was the best ride ever!!!" coasters of the two parks? like i said CP was a blast and MM looks like it would be a blast too! Its like my next "bucket list" park lol.

 

 

Man... that's hard. CP is so much cleaner and nicer...and FLAT!! Lol. But I do miss coasters like X2 when I'm at CP. idk... to be honest, in my opinion, you can't really compare the two or say one is better than the other. They both honestly offer such great stuff and are so different. That's just me.

[eugjackson]

For the longest time i dreamed of going to 3 parks:Cedar Point,Great Adventure(mostly for KK and El Toro),and of course Magic Mountain. I finally when to Cedar Point for the first time this summer! Was a blast! I know Cedar Point is Cedar Fair's flag ship amusement park and MM is SF's flagship park and has tons of coasters. I guess you can say MM is the "Cedar Point" of Six Flags parks. But yea id like to go here one day. Both Cedar Fair and Six Flags chains are known to have the best coasters so it would be cool to be at two of the best thrill ride parks in the country maybe even world! That being said which of the two has the most "omg that was the best ride ever!!!" coasters of the two parks? like i said CP was a blast and MM looks like it would be a blast too! Its like my next "bucket list" park lol.

 

CP by far....6 steel coasters ranked in the top 50 worldwide

1)Millenium Force

2)Maverick

3)Magnum Xl

4) TTD

5)Gatekeeper

6)Raptor

 

Then you have the tallest dive in Valravn, good floorless in Rougarou, top 50 world wide woody in Blue Streak. RMC Mean Streak coming, which will hopefully be top 5 in the park. That top 10 listed for CP is not comparable to any other parks top 10 or even 5 IMO.

[Arthur_Seaton]

That being said which of the two has the most "omg that was the best ride ever!!!" coasters of the two parks?

 

I suspect that for many of us who are locals to one of the other, we can take what we have for granted a bit; I can certainly see how someone who has never visited SFMM could (and should) be excited about doing so. With that said, CP would win out for me, both in terms of rides and general park experience. Don't get me wrong, both have their fair share of meh rides, but for me there are really only a handful of rides at SFMM that I bother getting on when I visit (depending on what kind of state rides like Apocalypse and Scream are in). So, for me, it's more about how many rides would I voluntarily skip — SFMM ekes out CP in that category, even though CP has a number that I wasn't particularly into.

 

At CP, I'd rank Valravn, MF, Maverick, Skyhawk, and TTD as excellent with Gatekeeper and Gemini as very good.

At SFMM, I'd rank Full Throttle, TC, Goliath as excellent with Ninja, Scream, Lex, and Apocalyspe (depending on its state) as very good. Of course X2 and Tatsu are must-rides at least once but I'm personally not a fan of either one.

[storms555]

I wonder why the Superman ride there doesnt a lot of love as in its rarely mentioned to be that coaster looks a lot of fun.

[RaceBoarder]

I wonder why the Superman ride there doesnt a lot of love as in its rarely mentioned to be that coaster looks a lot of fun.

Honestly it doesn't really do much... People say that Dragster and KA are "one trick ponies". Superman is 1/2 trick since it's just a shuttle.

 

Big factor would be how much of a rush you get from pure speed. Some people go bonkers, others are just "meh". I tend to lean towards the latter due to snowboard/automotive speed experiences, but YMMV. Definitely check it out and form your own opinions. I still got it as a "must ride" if I make it out to LA at some point.

[coasterlvr]

I wonder why the Superman ride there doesnt a lot of love as in its rarely mentioned to be that coaster looks a lot of fun.

 

the acceleration isn't all that strong compared to the accelerator coasters. it is pretty fun though. capacity is horrible though.

[Superbatboy]

Superman is pretty meh, especially considering how big and intimidating it looks. Things like KK and TTD are much more intense and give you a crazy rush that Superman just can't provide.

[coasternut]

For the longest time i dreamed of going to 3 parks:Cedar Point,Great Adventure(mostly for KK and El Toro),and of course Magic Mountain. I finally when to Cedar Point for the first time this summer! Was a blast! I know Cedar Point is Cedar Fair's flag ship amusement park and MM is SF's flagship park and has tons of coasters. I guess you can say MM is the "Cedar Point" of Six Flags parks. But yea id like to go here one day. Both Cedar Fair and Six Flags chains are known to have the best coasters so it would be cool to be at two of the best thrill ride parks in the country maybe even world! That being said which of the two has the most "omg that was the best ride ever!!!" coasters of the two parks? like i said CP was a blast and MM looks like it would be a blast too! Its like my next "bucket list" park lol.

 

I grew up in Cleveland, and Cedar Point was my home park. The park USED TO BE GREAT. Cedar Point is much cleaner than Magic Mountain.

 

For me these are my favorite parks:

 

1, Magic Mountain

2, Great Adventure

3, Hershey Park

4, Kings Island

5, Kings Dominion

6, Cedar Point

[coasterbill]

The idea that Cedar Point has somehow gone downhill over time blows my mind. They take huge strides forward just about every single year.

[Password121]

The idea that Cedar Point has somehow gone downhill over time blows my mind. They take huge strides forward just about every single year.

Yeah, I'm all for opinions but I'm even more for opinions with some validation. I'd like to hear the rationale.

[CedarFlags]

Superman is pretty meh, especially considering how big and intimidating it looks. Things like KK and TTD are much more intense and give you a crazy rush that Superman just can't provide.

 

Superman is also a decade older than KK, so....

 

You have to ride it in the frame of mind for how it was built. At the time, it was mind blowing, and I still really enjoy it. I think the switch to backwards makes the height so much more impressive.

[laqueefa]

Superman is pretty meh, especially considering how big and intimidating it looks. Things like KK and TTD are much more intense and give you a crazy rush that Superman just can't provide.

 

You're also speaking as someone who's ridden both KK and TTD. Not everyone has, and for a lot of the GP in the SFMM area, they probably won't.

[coasterlvr]

Superman is pretty meh, especially considering how big and intimidating it looks. Things like KK and TTD are much more intense and give you a crazy rush that Superman just can't provide.

 

Superman is also a decade older than KK, so....

 

You have to ride it in the frame of mind for how it was built. At the time, it was mind blowing, and I still really enjoy it. I think the switch to backwards makes the height so much more impressive.

 

i honestly only thought it was decent after the change. it was never mind blowing to me. especially after the half asses pass holder preview. i do enjoy superman, but the comparison was asked about CP. i agree with superbatboy.

[SoCalJasonland]

I grew up in Cleveland, and Cedar Point was my home park. The park USED TO BE GREAT. Cedar Point is much cleaner than Magic Mountain.

 

For me these are my favorite parks:

 

1, Magic Mountain

2, Great Adventure

3, Hershey Park

4, Kings Island

5, Kings Dominion

6, Cedar Point

 

I wonder how much of this is home park burn out? SFMM & CP are good parks but I consider Cedar Point better because I have only been there twice and are not burned out on any rides. I remember the entire park as exciting and new. The So Cal parks can get boring to me now as I have had the same passes for the past 20 years and ridden most of the rides to death. I still enjoy them but few of the rides are that exciting or fresh anymore.

[Vonni]

The idea that Cedar Point has somehow gone downhill over time blows my mind. They take huge strides forward just about every single year.

 

 

CP went down the tubes when they removed the second Sky Ride

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I'll compare the two, since I just went to Cedar Point and Magic Mountain for the first time this year, and both times for enthusiast events, so I feel I can give a fair comparison.

 

Comparable rides:

Raptor v. Batman: Raptor

Gatekeeper v. X2: X2

Iron Dragon v. Ninja: Ninja

Rougarou v. Scream: Scream

Corkscrew v. Viper: Viper

Magnum v. Goliath: Magnum

Mean Streak v. Apocalypse: Apocalypse

Cedar Creek Mine Ride v. Gold Rusher: CCMR

 

Thunder Rapids v. Thunder River: Thunder Rapids

Power Tower v. Lex Luthor: Lex Luthor

 

So we're about even so far. Let's check out the unique rides.

 

SFMM has YOLOcoaster, Twisted Colossus, Tatsu, Riddler's Revenge, and Green Lantern for coasters, as well as the only log flume I've been on that totally sucks.

 

Cedar Point has Millennium Force, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster...and I think I can stop there and we have a winner.

 

Food quailty is pretty bad at both places. Food service is better at Cedar Point, but honestly not great in either place. CP just moves food lines faster. Slightly faster.

 

Food locations that are within walking distance of the park: CP wins, and it's not even close. Marie Callender's is good, but that's it, and it's a bit of a hike.

 

I didn't visit either waterpark, so they're both equal, at least in my desire to go there.

 

Operations and cleanliness are the biggest differences to me. Magic Mountain did a pretty good job keeping paths clean, but the number of overflowing trash cans was unacceptable. Cedar Point does not have that problem, due to their policy of having 3 trash cans per guest.

 

Magic Mountain's crews were good on the most popular rides, most notably Twisted Colossus. However, on the less popular rides the bar was much lower. CP ride ops were spectacular across the board. I even rode the Himalaya, and the ride op there was awesome. No noticeable decline in quality when going to the less popular rides there.

 

For me, the most important thing is also the most intangible: Do I want to go back? And for Magic Mountain, the answer right now is no. I had a good time, and I'm glad I went. It's just that after one day, I'm good. I might go back if they build a new ride that interests me, but not otherwise. And maybe not even then. If I'm going to go all the way to LA, I'd just rather go to Knott's or Disneyland, as I feel they deliver more in the limited time I would have.

 

Cedar Point, on the other hand, I would go back to right now. Right this second. They don't need anything new; I'd go back for what they have already. Oh, it's not open today?

 

Yes, I know that's subjective, but that's how a lot of guests judge. Of course, only we nerds are comparing these two parks, but still. I only have so much time and so much money, and I want to spend it in a way that makes me the happiest. That may sound simplistic, but I think that's the fairest way to say it.

[coasternut]

The idea that Cedar Point has somehow gone downhill over time blows my mind. They take huge strides forward just about every single year.

Yeah, I'm all for opinions but I'm even more for opinions with some validation. I'd like to hear the rationale.

 

Something happened about 6 - 8 years ago with the employees. They used to love their jobs. I remember making the statement, I don't know what they feed these kids but if we'd feed this to the rest of the world there wouldn't be war. They USED TO love their jobs. Now, they go out of their way to even avoid eye contact with the guests. Last year I was at Magic Mountain 36 days, so it's not burn out. I've been there over 20 days this year. I find most employees friendly and even recognize me. They actually start conversations with me. Over the past 5 years or so, that's not the case at Cedar Point. I also like the rides more at MM. Now that Mean Streak is closed, MM has 2 more coasters.

[eugjackson]

For the longest time i dreamed of going to 3 parks:Cedar Point,Great Adventure(mostly for KK and El Toro),and of course Magic Mountain. I finally when to Cedar Point for the first time this summer! Was a blast! I know Cedar Point is Cedar Fair's flag ship amusement park and MM is SF's flagship park and has tons of coasters. I guess you can say MM is the "Cedar Point" of Six Flags parks. But yea id like to go here one day. Both Cedar Fair and Six Flags chains are known to have the best coasters so it would be cool to be at two of the best thrill ride parks in the country maybe even world! That being said which of the two has the most "omg that was the best ride ever!!!" coasters of the two parks? like i said CP was a blast and MM looks like it would be a blast too! Its like my next "bucket list" park lol.

 

I grew up in Cleveland, and Cedar Point was my home park. The park USED TO BE GREAT. Cedar Point is much cleaner than Magic Mountain.

 

For me these are my favorite parks:

 

1, Magic Mountain

2, Great Adventure

3, Hershey Park

4, Kings Island

5, Kings Dominion

6, Cedar Point

 

 

It's hard to take this post seriously. CP is a way ahead of KD, GAdv, KI, MM....CP top 5 and top 10 coasters is not even close to being matched.

[jonskinny12]

^ That's really interesting to read your experience with the CP employees. I visited there in 2015 and 2016 (before that I hadn't been since 2007) and found the employees to be just as friendly and into their jobs as in the past and more so than most of the employees at SFMM. I say most because there are actually some great employees at SFMM. And having more coasters means absolutely nothing, especially when 4 of them are under 30 feet tall.

 

I love SFMM and I've been twice this year, might go back for HITP as well. I just prefer the way CP is run in so many ways. As far as the coaster lineup goes, I prefer CP but SFMM has some things that CP doesn't.

[brneff99]

My son and I were at CP for the 1st time ever on Sunday (Trip Report still to come), are So Cal residents, and I can tell you that the Ride Ops were far superior to any I have EVER experienced at SFMM with the possible exception of TC in its opening months...the staffing alone was ridiculously higher per ride than I ever see locally and it was almost the last weekend of the year...the dispatches on all the major coasters was beyond impressive...so kudos to any TPR members who work there...

[coasterbill]

I'll compare the two, since I just went to Cedar Point and Magic Mountain for the first time this year, and both times for enthusiast events, so I feel I can give a fair comparison.

 

Comparable rides:

Raptor v. Batman: Raptor

Gatekeeper v. X2: X2

Iron Dragon v. Ninja: Ninja

Rougarou v. Scream: Scream

Corkscrew v. Viper: Viper

Magnum v. Goliath: Magnum

Mean Streak v. Apocalypse: Apocalypse

Cedar Creek Mine Ride v. Gold Rusher: CCMR

 

What year is it?

 

Seriously it's a good post, but everyone's going to have totally different opinions (I hate X2 with a fiery passion and really like Gatekeeper for example) but it feels like 2001 with the Magic Mountain / Cedar Point discussion.

 

The idea that Cedar Point has somehow gone downhill over time blows my mind. They take huge strides forward just about every single year.

Yeah, I'm all for opinions but I'm even more for opinions with some validation. I'd like to hear the rationale.

 

Something happened about 6 - 8 years ago with the employees. They used to love their jobs. I remember making the statement, I don't know what they feed these kids but if we'd feed this to the rest of the world there wouldn't be war. They USED TO love their jobs. Now, they go out of their way to even avoid eye contact with the guests. Last year I was at Magic Mountain 36 days, so it's not burn out. I've been there over 20 days this year. I find most employees friendly and even recognize me. They actually start conversations with me. Over the past 5 years or so, that's not the case at Cedar Point.

 

I don't know, aside from their food service staff which has always sucked I generally think Cedar Point has great employees, especially the ride staff. You'll get some bad ones here and there but for every bad one you'll also get a great one that goes way above and beyond. Sorry to hear you had bad experiences but it's very possible that you just caught them on off days.

 

I'll be honest, at Magic Mountain I don't really remember much about the staff. They seemed to be doing a good job, nothing stood out to me either but we were rushing around and not really paying attention to small details. I'm not comparing the SFMM to the Cedar Point staff to put down SFMM. It's more just an isolated statement about Cedar Point.

[storms555]

thanks for the answers all,by the way:) A lot of interesting answers. It seems a lot of people do still prefer CP to MM. However I still would like to go one day hopefully. I want to go to SFGAdv one day too. I want to go on I-305 and Fury too however not sure id want to go all the way out to those places just for one flagship coaster in each of the parks. Sigh...sometimes i wish i had tons of money so i can travel around the country to go to all the awesome parks! lol.

[boldikus]

^ I can't speak for Carowinds as I've never been but Kings Dominion and Great Adventure are about much more than one flagship coaster. Both have totally solid line-ups with lots of awesome rides. And both parks are pretty nice.

[coasterbill]

I can confirm that Afterburn is completely bada** and one of the best inverted coasters in America. It's a great 1-2 punch with Fury. Kings Dominion is much more well rounded (and they have an RMC coming in 2018) but Carowinds isn't a one trick pony either (it's a two trick pony, lol).

Edited October 26, 2016 by coasterbill

[chadster]

I can confirm that Afterburn is completely bada** and one of the best inverted coasters in America. It's a great 1-2 punch with Fury. Kings Dominion is much more well rounded (and they have an RMC coming in 2018) but Carowinds isn't a one trick pony either (it's a two trick pony, lol).

 

Fixed